COA Announces 2013 Award Winners

SERVICE TO THE PROFESSION

Bell will receive the association's highest honor, the James F. Sosnowski, DO, Distinguished Service Award to recognize his commitment to and work on behalf of the osteopathic profession locally, statewide, and nationally.

Bell has been a leader within the medical profession. He is a past president of the COA, Ohio Osteopathic Association, Ohio Chapter of the American College of Emergency Physicians, and American College of Osteopathic Emergency Physicians. An emergency physician, he established the first emergency medicine residency at Doctors Hospital, and has been an attending faculty member at Doctors Hospital for 25 years.

He has a passion for osteopathic medicine, teaches OMM, and is active in formulation of both state and federal health policy.

Bell is assistant dean at Ohio University Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine (OU-HCOM).

CHAMPIONING OSTEOPATHIC EDUCATION

Anderson, a leader in the field of oncology, will receive the William I. Linder, DO, Advocate Award.

A champion for osteopathic medicine, and for osteopathic medical education in particular, Anderson has been a mentor to many. He promotes his osteopathic heritage and encourages the next generation of DOs. He has been an advocate for OU-HCOM and its students.

Additionally, Anderson's commitment and dedication to patient care are qualities to emulate. He is the recipient of several awards specifically honoring him as a clinician, including the Columbus Cancer Clinic Oustanding Healthcare Professional of the Year and OhioHealth Patient Service Champion.

AWARDS HONOR PAST LEADERS

The Distinguished Service Award, established in 1988, is named for the only osteopathic physician killed in action in Vietnam. Captain James F. Sosnowski (MC) died February 16, 1968, when a mortar shell directly hit a field hospital in Tay Ninh, Vietnam. At the time of the shelling Sosnowski was in the operating room working on an American soldier. Both were killed instantly.

Sosnowski was a resident in Internal Medicine at Doctors Hospital in Columbus and entered the military in 1967 during the first draft of osteopathic physicians. He was the first Doctors Hospital staff member to lose his life in the service of his country and the only DO listed on the Vietnam Memorial in Washington DC.

The Advocate Award, established in 1997, is named in memory of William I. Linder, DO, who served as editor of the COA publication called The Advocate. The publication allowed him to marry his writing skills to his great love of medicine. Many of the articles were called "prophetic" in their ability to predict some of the ways in which medicine would - and has - evolved both for better and worse.

Linder was a great proponent of osteopathic medicine and osteopathic medical education. One of the songs he loved to play on his guitar (he was not only a skilled physician and talented writer, but also a musician) was one he wrote himself about Dr. Andrew Taylor Still.